When I was initially referred by my GP an ultrasound showed the endometrium 8 mm with some free fluid.
The hysteroscopy/D&C was unsuccessful because he couldn’t get the cervix dilated enough but an MRI did indicate that it was cancer, caught early, and I had my uterus, ovaries and tubes removed 2 weeks ago. No lymph nodes were removed.
Today was my follow up appointment and the consultant told me that he performed the op judging that it was probably a stage 2. That was not the case when the tissue was examined and its stage 3b serous adenocarcinoma.
He has advised that after discussion with the oncologists he is not going to go back in to remove nodes or anything else rather I will be referred to the local cancer centre and will have both chemotherapy and internal and external radiotherapy.
Me and my husband are totally floored by this and I’m afraid to try to look up any information.
Just looking for any advice or information to help us get through the next few weeks before they are able to start the treatment.
Thanks
Hi EP17
I am sorry to hear that your results were not as expected. It must have come as a shock in it may take a while to sink in. My own results did not come back as expected and to be told you need further treatment can be hard.
My follow up treatment was chemotherapy and then external beam radiotherapy. I wasn't expecting either. When the treatment is all ahead of you it can be tough. For me I found that once I actually started it went quicker than I though.
I think the thing to remember is that the cancer is treatable and the treatments will hopefully mop up any stray cells anywhere. The chemo is to mop up any cells whole body wise. For me it was given before the radiotherapy but more recently I have seen ladies on here who have done the radiotherapy first.
My chemo was given in 21 day cycles. Day 1 was in hospital and then 20 days at home. There can be different chemos offered but most ladies on here are offered paclitaxel and carboplatin. There are side effects but on the whole they can be managed with medication.
I did not have brachytherapy but there are ladies on here who have. Brachytherapy is to try to prevent a recurrence in the local area. External radiotherapy for me (and most others on here) is done in 25 daily sessions. It is possible that you may have different regimes.
Serous is the type of cancer and it is a grade 3 (like mine) Its one that they do tend to like to give follow up treatment as it can behave a bit more aggressively.
Stage 3b means that there were some cancer cells found outside the womb but that it is still all contained within your pelvis and it is called locally advanced. It would be usual to have these treatments offered for your stage and grade.
I would advise against googling for more information. Its not necessarily accurate and it can be out of date. it also does not have all your personal medical history. The best person to talk to would be your CNS. We do have the Support Line and it may be helpful to talk things through tomorrow if you are still feeling as you do.
What I would expect to happen next is that you get called in so they can talk you through the next treatment, explain how and when it will be given and talk about side effects. My chemo started 6 weeks post op. My radiotherapy started pretty much as soon as my last chemo cycle finished.
If you want to know a bit about time scales, perhaps click on my name- my profile will come up with timings. The other thing I found helpful was to break every thing down into small steps. One treatment and 1 appointment at a time. Focus on that and tick that one off before moving to the next one. I found that it could feel overwhelming otherwise.
if you have anything you want to ask about either treatment please do so.
Jane
